In The Cards
by princessleoeye
Summary: Natalie Buchanans return to Llanview after a five year absense brings on some unexpected surprises. Or maybe not considering the cards had told her some of them. Will be Jolie heavy with the Buchs and Balsoms thrown in
1. Chapter 1

Hi guys, this is one of my attempts at a Jolie fan-fic. She doesn't meet John for a few chapters but it is definately a Jolie love story.

Please read and review it keeps the muse happy. Let me know what you think and If I should continue on posting it here. Thanks!

In The Cards

Chapter 1

"Surprise" ..."No way"! "You guys didn't have to do this". Natalie exclaimed while she just unlocked her apartment door to find a room full of

people with banners and balloons saying good luck we'll miss you" welcoming her home. Natalie just helped lock up the last criminal as an

on duty cop in AC with the 46th precint and she couldn't have felt worse.

"Natty is everything okay" ? A lanky guy with blonde hair and glasses went over to her concerned.

"Everythings fine Justin" she gulped loudly while they talked quietly in the corner of the foyer.

"Then why don't you look fine"? He questioned her by lifting up her chin to meet his eyes.

She could never lie to Justin Malloy he was one of the first rookie wannabe cops to befriend her at the academy and they were friends ever

since. He wanted her romantically but understood she was grieving for her dead husband that had recently died. He never pursued her after

she made it clear to him she wasn't ready for a serious relationship, so good friends they stayed.

"Its just..." she tried to continue unsuccessfully. "Shh" he said calmingly to her while embracing her in a big hug.

"Hey guys" Amy Sharpe a collegue of Natalies went over to them also a little concerned.

Amy strived to be just a good a cop as Natalie and looked up to her like a big sister would. Natalie was tops in her academy and set quite

an example for the younger brown haired girl. One thing was certain Amy would miss Natalie immensly when she was gone.

"Everythings fine" Natalie assured her by squeezing her wrist slightly then taking herself out of the hug with Justin.

"Then lets party" ! Amy exclaimed happily while twirling in the living room to the hoots and hollers of her collegues and friends.

Natalie joined them reluctantly and settled in sort of. She even drank a few beers but nothing shook the uneasiness of what had just

happened a few hours prior.

flashback

_"Come out with your hands up" Natalie Buchanan shouted to the man who agreed reluctantly with his head down._

_As he walked out of the dark warehouse, the street lights dimmed slightly as he made his way towards the officers arresting him._

_"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law, do you understand these rights"? _

_The man nodded knowing it was finally over for him as the cuffs were roughly thrown around his wrists by an assisting cop to Natalie._

_"Get in the car, you should be disgusted from the actions you have done as an officer of the law"! She spat back at him while Officer _

_Tompkins grabbed a hold of the ashamed officer and through him in the backseat while giving her a look saying "don't let your emotions _

_run you over"_

_Natalies eyes just glared back at him, then focused at the man in the back seat in handcuffs while she was standing beside the vehicle._

_She thought to herself "How could someone who took an oath just throw it away, so intentionally."? _

_"How could he do it"? she asked herself again trying to figure it out in her head. Softening a little._

_He was the last one, the last dirty cop being bribed by gang members and partaking in the use of the illegal substances himself. The gang_

_got away with practically everything because of him but no more, he was caught and red tagged. _

_Unfortuneately most of the gang he'd kept out of trouble had disbanded and escaped before they could be caught, except for an informant _

_who chose to help them catch the cop in order for a light sentence for posessing the drugs, he wanted to clean up his act. _

_Natalie acknowledged how brave the young man was in doing so, doing the right thing had always been very important to her._

_She looked at the man wearing a wire being escorted to another police car and shook her head yet let out a smile to him,he was turning _

_things around. He smiled back at her sincerely. He was so young not more then a few years older then Nats adopted brother Rex and he _

_still had a chance._

_That night he wore a wire and lurred the cop to an abandoned warehouse he gave him some cash as the cop took it gladly making sure _

_noone else was around. He trusted this kid implicitly and was quite alarmed to have Natalie and her fellow officers surround him like they did._

_Natalie now looked back from the young man to the older one. She couldn't pinpoint exactly why but his arrest affected her the most out of _

_the three her and her fellow officers made that week._

_"Was it because he was a cop for close to 30 years"? "Or was it that he had a family back home a wife and probably kids now grown up _

_who would be so disappointed in him that he would spend a lifetime trying to make it up to them" _

_"But then again" she thought as she got inside the car and drove away to the station with the man who threw everything away "Why did she even care"?_

_She wasn't the one that got payed off repeatedly for God only knows how long and she also wasn't the one who spat on the oath of what being an officer was about._

_They quickly neared the station and all of Natalies emotions crackled beneath the surface as she looked back behind her at the man who almost pleaded to her with his eyes a look she couldn't erase easily from her mind_

_End of flashback_

"Natalie, Natalie" a voice called to her dragging her out of her thoughts

"Yeah" she responded coming back to earth not realizing she'd been spilling her drink all over the floor creating a puddle around her.

"Are you really okay" ?Justin asked her again prying the bottle from her hand and placing it on the table beside them.

The two took a seat on the nearby couch as Justin tried to guage her by reading her face.

She looked up at him a little less despondently

"Its fine Justin really" she said trying to assure him with a half smile.

"Look Nat its not your fault" He said calmly knowing what she was thinking about.

Natalie nodded slowly unable to speak then got up again and made her way to the window to stare out at the stars unaware of the noise

around her, everyone was pretty much reeking havoc over her place but all she could think of was that man, "the one lieutenant who threw

away everything"

"Hey everyone" a petite short haired girl with big blue eyes named Jennifer announced loudly while waving her hands around to the room

shaking everyone out of what they were doing.

Once she achieved her goal of everyones attention and they all settled down she continued on. "Any of you believe in tarot cards"?

The room pretty much laughed at her like she was out of her mind.

"No, no wait" she protested "they sometimes can come true" she added while going across the room and finding her purse to dig them out.

She unsteadily and a little tipsy almost tripped over her own feet before slumping on the couch and dragging the coffee table closer to her.

She continued to unfold a deck of black cards that were encased in a silky purple cloth and layed them down on the table.

Natalie spyed her friend slightly making an ass of herself but was quite a bit intrigued. Rex's biological mom did that sort of thing, she

recalled from staying up late at Roxy and Max's with her brother Rex. After Max died Roxy hit the bottle quite hard and she offered her

neighbours and dear friends the Buchanans to look after him.

Unfortuneately however Roxy never sobered up enough to look after the young kid and Rex was adopted by Clint and Vicki Buchanan when

he was 11.

Natalie was quickly shaken out of her memories as Amy "initiated" her by grabbing her hand and dragged her to the couch beside Jennifer.

"Okay Nat"! the young girl exclaimed happily. "It looks like your nominated first. "Pick out 10 cards but don't look at them" she offered then

continued "This is called the celtic cross" she added as Natalie complied with trepidation. She actually believed in them more then she

thought.

"Okay now I'm going to slowly turn them over for everyone to see" Jennifer said while turning towards Natalie then eyeing the rest of the

room equally intrigued.

Natalies cards were the lovers,the tower, 2 of cups, 8 of cups, 9 of swords, the devil, the heirophant, the chariot, the high priestess and

finally the one describing the future was the hermit.

Natalie had an idea about some of them but in particular the hermit caught her eye, she shivered slightly as Jennifer began to tell her what they meant.

"Hmm its telling me you'll have to make a choice soon in love" Natalie sat quietly unable to speak. The one she loved more then anything

died 5 years ago. Jennifer continued on. " You have a lot of guilt and regret and your past in particular may shape your future" she added.

Natalie again sat silent taking every word into her conciousness. "You will meet someone who will change your life forever, but be careful it

may destroy the both of you" Jennifer sat eyeing the hermit then finished "He is somewhat of a loner, dark hair, hes dangerous but it is

inevitable you two shall meet from what has happened in the past" .

Natalie felt tears starting to threaten, part of her wished she never agreed to this.

Justin went over to Natalie and placed his hand on her shoulder seeing the look on her face, he knew she wanted to be alone.

"Okay guys lets help clean up and then we should leave, since Natalies going to llanview tomorrow this party went on a little longer then

expected" he added as everyone heeded his leadership and started straightening up her apartment. Natalie watched them clean up but was

still unable to move, it shook her more then anything ever had.

Finally a little over an hour later Natalie found her legs and went over to the door hugging her friends and said their goodbyes. "Jennifer" Nat

added as the girl spun around"Yeah Nat" "do you think that um" Nat started to say, Jennifer nodded slowly while giving her a quick hug.

"Be careful Natalie" she said "stay in touch"

Natalie nodded "By guys thanks for everything, I'm gonna miss you" Natalie said as the tears threatened to fall.AC was her home, these

friends were with her through good and bad. Natalie continued saying her goodbyes as the last one Justin filed out the door. "Stay in touch

Nat" he said thumbing her cheek tenderly then kissed her on the forehead.

"I will" she choked out.

Once everyone left Natalie took one last beer bottle lying on the floor and placed it in the sink. It was quite a party and her eyes were

feeling very heavy.

She padded to her bedroom got ready for bed and set her alarm, flopping her head on the pillow with nothing but the thoughts of the man

she helped put away on her mind and some man that had dark hair she was supposed to meet.

"It was just a game right, those things aren't real"? she tried convincing herself then fell into an uneasy sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ooops I seriously realized my mistakes with the first chapter, I apologize for the double spacing which I took to meant literally,lol. Secondly I forgot the disclaimer of not owning anything, Please don't sue. Hope the mistakes in spelling are fixed up, I've posted this one on another board but in transition It must have got messed up somewhere, so again I apologize. Thanks for the review and the pointers as well. Please read and review to let me know If I should keep posting this one.  
**

**Once again I don't own them, don't sue**

Chapter 2

"Hey Johnny you staying to closing"? Kevin asked hopefully while kneeling on the floor rummaging through some glasses.

"I don't know man" John responded while flicking the till closed from his previous customer.

Nodding at the last group of customers filing through the door, one in particular caught his eye. "Hey there beautiful" he said happily while coming around from the counter happily hugging his blonde fiancee.

"Hey there yourself" the woman announced while pressing her lips to his.

John kissed her back soulfully while taking a whisp of her blonde locks falling on her face and pushed them back with his strong hands.

"You getting off soon"? She asked pleading to him with her big brown eyes. "Not tonight babe" he confirmed watching her smile fade slightly.

"But when I get home, I'll make it up to you my beautiful bride to be" he assured her while holding her back gently and staring into her eyes.

"John" she said while playfully patting him on his shoulder.

John smiled back at her and took her into another hug before lettting her go.

'Listen Jess, I think your workaholic brother actually wants a night away from this place "So I think I'm stuck with closing" John responded loudly so Kevin could hear him in the other room.

Kevin walked out of the backroom with a tray of glasses and set them down on the counter with a hearty laugh. "Well Kell and I never have any alone time anymore this is the first night we'll actually have some time to ourselves since Andy was born" he stated happily.

Kevin decided he no longer had his heart in Buchanan Enterprises and when the opportunity arrived he decided to team up with John and buy Rodis when Mac put it on the market 5 years ago.

Kevin met John when John, Michael and Eve McBain all moved to llanview for a change of scenery.

John was looking for a new career and showed interest in owning his own bar for he used to be a bartender before he was a cop.

Kevin never asked John about being a cop or why he left the force, he was told one night by Michael it was for personal reasons but chose not to press it further.

Kevin also never asked why the three moved to a little town like llanview for he sensed they were private about it especially John. He never talked about his past much all he told Kevin and the Buchanans was that his father had died and they couldn't live in Atlantic City with all the memories surrounding them there.

Jessica and John were now seated at a table laughing hysterically, like they always did. He was good for her despite his secretiveness he'd never hurt her, Kevin thought while looking over at them. And Jessica was good for John.

"So Johnny you anxious about meeting my sister"? Jessica asked playfully while playing with his fingers from across the table.

"Me nervous" ?John asked half-jokingly. He heard about Natalie,Jess' fraternal twin sister but she never visited her family, they only visited her. She lost her husband five years ago he was told and she stayed pretty much to herself. He started dating Jessica a year ago after a long friendship but he never saw any current pictures of Natalie when he visited llanfair. He thought it was strange but didn't inquire further, she sounded like she had a lot of baggage she carried around with her.

"Hey Johnny" Jess asked snapping her fingers in front of him. "You are nervous aren't you"? she asked him like she'd caught him red handed.

"Maybe a little" John responded while gesturning his fingers together to describe how much.

"Well shes coming back to llanview for good and I for one couldn't be happier" Jess stated happily while sitting back in her chair and folding her arms across her chest.

"I know Jess" John said matching her grin. He loved when she was happy.

"Shoot look at the time" Jess said abruptly while checking her watch. "I have to go home"

"Home"? John questioned. "Yeah, well not our home" she added flirting with him. "Llanfair" " I want to make sure everything is prepared for when Nat gets in town, her train is arriving noon tomorrow" she finished.

John nodded. "Actually John could you do me a favor"? Jess added with a grin.

He could never say no to her "Can you meet Nat at the train station, I mean what better way to meet her future brother in law then that" she stated while getting off of her chair and grabbing her purse.

John shook his head no "I don't even know what she looks like now all I've seen are pics of her as a kid"? He added

"Oh you'll know" Jess added with a wink. Then left him with his thoughts.

"What do I like have to have a sign saying Natalie Buchanan this way and wave it around in front of everyone there"? He asked joking when left alone.

"I love you Jessica but sometimes you just don't think" he added then got up off his stool. Kevin was gone now and it was almost closing.

Now that he thought about it for some reason John was really hesitant about meeting his future sister in law.


End file.
